Marshawn Williams, Phoebus run over Caroline 56-7

HAMPTON — Through the regular season, Phoebus workhorse Marshawn Williams averaged nearly 23 rushing attempts a game. So if anyone should benefit from some time off, it was him.

With two full weeks to rest and rejuvenate, Williams rushed for 197 yards and five touchdowns as the top-seeded Phantoms rolled over No. 16 Caroline 56-7 in Friday night's Group 4A South opener at Darling Stadium. Two of his scores covered 54 and 50 yards, both of which were SportsCenter worthy.

Williams had 147 yards on 12 attempts at halftime. On the third play of the third quarter, he broke at least four tackles before finishing off a 50-yard run that looked more like Marshawn Lynch.

And with that, he took the rest of the night off. So Williams should be fresh for next week's quarterfinal at Darling against No. 9 King's Fork, a 31-0 winner over Tabb.

"He came out tonight and he was his old self," Phoebus coach Jeremy Blunt said. "Rest is necessary, and the kids that needed rest showed it tonight by coming out and playing good football."

Phoebus (10-1) piled up 429 total yards — 266 on the ground, 163 in the air. The Phantoms scored on eight of their 10 drives.

As you would expect of a 1 vs. 16, it was over early. Caroline (4-7) went three-and-out on its first possession, and Phoebus took over at the Cavalier 45.

The Phantoms needed two plays — a 40-yard pass from Joe Addison to Terrell Toliver, and a 7-yard run by Williams — to score the game's first touchdown only 69 seconds in.

Chad Boxley fumbled on Caroline's first play of its next possession, and Phoebus went 26 yards in four plays. Less than four minutes in, the lead was 14-0.

"The kids were locked in from the opening snap," Blunt said. "We needed that. It's playoff time, and if you want to be dominant, you have to get better each and every play. We were able to do that."

The Cavaliers then moved the chains a couple of times, but Trevione Powell's interception (his first of two) at the 7-yard line ended that. Phoebus went the distance in six plays, taking a 21-0 lead on Williams' remarkable 54-yard run with 1:27 left in the first quarter.

Addison threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Troy Durham, and Williams scored from a yard out — following an incredible 45-yard run — to give the Phantoms a 35-0 lead with 6:26 left in the half. That would trigger a running clock when the second half started.

Instead, the Cavaliers scored on Boxley's 1-yard run with 11 seconds left. It followed an 83-yard pass from Rasharrd Harris to Keyshawn Johnson.

Harris completed only 6-of-17 passes in the first half but for 173 yards. He was 3-of-11 for 23 yards with three interceptions in the second half.

"We knew they'd take a lot of shots downfield," Blunt said. "And we knew they'd get some. We let one go right before halftime, and that was a mental mistake. In the second half, we came out and got three picks."